Pressure grows as council adds to windfarm protest

EDF Energy wants to build 30 turbines half a mile off Coatham Sands, near Redcar, east Cleveland.

The development is facing opposition because the site is near a protected bird sanctuary and one of the east coast's busiest shipping lanes.

Now Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has lodged an objection.

Vera Baird, MP for Redcar, has already been campaigning against the plans and has been joined by Dari Taylor Stockton South MP, Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, and Frank Cook, MP for Stockton North.

She has received the backing of English Nature, which has sent its objections to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and he Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Local wind farm protest group Save Our Shoreline is opposing the windfarm and more than 5,000 signatures have been sent to the DTI.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's planning committee has now lodged its objection with the DTI, which will determine the application.

Committee member Councillor Alma Thrower said members were concerned about the visual aspect of the windfarm for the residents of Redcar, the danger to wild birds and the disturbance of marine life.

She said concerns had also been raised about the effect on the regeneration of Redcar, including plans for the development of the Coatham Enclosure.

The effects on tourism and businesses in the town were discussed, as well as possible contamination of the sea bed.

Coun Thrower said: "The people of Redcar are against the proposal and we must listen to them."

EDF Energy said the location was chosen because of the good wind and factors including shipping lanes and water depth.

If the project goes ahead, the company said it would save 260,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, the gas blamed for the greenhouse effect, each year.

The company, which looked at ten sites from Berwick to the Wash, has extended its consultation period to the end of August.